Memeorandum

March 25, 2010

Crime And Thought Punishment

Shikha Dalmia of Forbes and Reason contemplates a vast campaign of civil disobedience in defiance of the health care mandate:

Any strategy of nonviolent civil resistance has to first make a good
faith effort to achieve its end through the available political and
legal means. But there comes a time when changing the law requires acts
of conscience.

For opponents of ObamaCare that time is Dec. 31, 2013. That's when
the individual mandate will go into effect. If ObamaCare hasn't been
repealed by Congress or nullified in court by then, its opponents would
be justified in urging Americans to refuse to buy coverage or pay fines
and dare authorities to come after them.

By some estimates, Uncle
Sam will need to hire an additional 17,000
IRS agents or so just to enforce the coverage mandate. But even if a
few million Americans simultaneously refuse to abide by it, they could
easily overwhelm the system.

‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATION AND PROCEDURE.—‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The penalty provided by this section shall be paid upon notice and demand by the Secretary, and except as provided in paragraph (2), shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as an assessable penalty under subchapter B of chapter 68 [link to Tax Code].

‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law—

‘‘(A) WAIVER OF CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—In the case of any failure by a taxpayer to timely pay any penalty imposed by this section, such taxpayer shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalty with respect to such failure.

‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS ON LIENS AND LEVIES.—The Secretary shall not—‘(i) file notice of lien with respect to any property of a taxpayer by reason of any failure to pay the penalty imposed by this section, or ‘‘(ii) levy on any such property with respect to such failure.’’.

The penalties and liabilities provided by this subchapter shall be paid upon notice and demand by the Secretary, and shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as taxes.

Now, I am not smart enough to be a Democrat and I am surely not smart enough to be a Democratic Congressperson, but I am having a hard time reading Section 2, where criminal penalties and liens are waived, as a commitment to tough enforcement. [I am a day late on this - apparently, Dems are delighted that no actual enforcement can take place:

A September letter
from a top tax official had said failure to pay the fines could
ultimately lead to the most severe penalty under federal law for tax
evasion, a $100,000 fine and five years in jail.

Now Democrats are touting protections they have added to limit the
reach of the tax man. “The bill specifically prohibits the IRS from
confiscating taxpayer assets, from using liens or levies, or imposing
criminal penalties of any kind — including jail time — because of a lack
of health care coverage,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said in a
statement.]

Which is understandable - we know lots of Democrats, such as Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle and Charles Rangel, who are confused by the concept of taxes and won't be troubling themselves with this latest wrinkle in the tax code. And no one really expects Eric Holder to be arresting a bunch of confused Dems who have more important things to do than comply with a new boatload of Federal paperwork requirements. So it was nice of Congress to make a nod toward equal treatment and admit that they won't be coming hard after anyone else who ignores this law, either.

Presumably a new Congress could amend the enforcement provisions if non-compliance becomes a problem. Of course, if non-compliance is a problem Congress might want to reflect on the disease, rather than the symptoms.

BONUS PUZZLE FOR THE ACCOUNTANTS AND TAX LAWYERS: Imagine some poor chump owes $6,000 in regular Federal income taxes and a $750 penalty for non-compliance with the mandate. He mails in a return with a check for $6,000 marked as "Full payment for taxes owed/No penalty".

Can the Feds deem his payment to be $750 for the mandate penalty and $5,250 for his taxes, leaving him short (and subject to liens) on $750 for his taxes?

Obviously, this would let them sidestep the "No Enforcement" clause cited above. The result would be non-enforcement for people who don't owe other taxes; I will guess there are more Dems than Reps in that group.

THE OLDIES ARE STILL THE GOODIES: Bill O'Reilly and Congressman Anthony Weiner reprise the immortal "Who's On First" routine. The gist:

Weiner: The IRS does not collect the fine.

O'Reilly: So who collects the fine?

Weiner: That's right.

What's scary is that Weiner claims O'Reilly is making stuff up; Weiner himself is either misinformed or lying.

HMM: Wage garnishment is also known as a wage levy, but I have the notion that it might well be different from a levy on property (such as a bank account), which means that a levy on wages would be allowed under ObamaCare.

Comments

I don't know about the "un-silenced majority" starting to act like Ganhdi or MLK or Cal students but it might have to happen. People talked about not filling out the census correctly or completely or subbing American for race but I'll bet its only a few hundred or a few thousand that actually do it. The rules for radicals are that - rules for left-wing anarchic radicals, not right-thinking folks that work hard, pay taxes, go to church and raise families.

But then even McConnell thinks that repeal or nullification is a long shot. So, perhaps civil disobedience is the way to go. Relying on the Supremes seems distant also. The Won is still singing the HCR tune instead of JOBS even after it passed in order to ensure his legacy is intact.

The problem with this particular form of civil disobedience is that they're already expecting millions not to comply with the individual mandates. They're also expecting small businesses to dump employee insurance and pay the fine.

Then when premiums rise because of pre-existing conditions, which aren't offset by enough healthy people and employers paying in, the insurance companies begin to go broke and there will be howls for the government to step in and "do something."

Result: single payer.

That's why the penalty for individuals and employers is so low compared to the inevitable high cost of guaranteed issue. The system becomes overwhelmed much more quickly.

Not only is it obstruction narciso it probably constitutes an illegal "straw purchase" which is a person purportedly buying a gun for himself when in fact it is for another. It's usually only prosecuted if the real purchaser was prohibited from buying one.

WASHINGTON — With the Senate working through an all-night session on a package of changes to the Democrats’ sweeping health care legislation, Republicans early Thursday morning identified parliamentary problems with at least two provisions that will require the measure to be sent back to the House for yet another vote, once the Senate adopts it.

Estimated week's delay but bill is expected to pass the House w/o problems.

Wasn't there someting about how all the budget stuff had to be done by April 1?

O/T I'm glad that Google has more nads in dealing with Chinese censorship than the quislings in the State Dept, and everywhere else in the Federal gvt for that matter. Granted it took discovering the ChiComs had hacked into their software and certain Google execs were strongly in favor of continuing the suppression of information flow, but hat's off at least to Sergey Brin for doing the right thing.

Now that ObamaCare is the Law of the Land - and the goal of a healthy population well-served by its healthcare providers, et cetera -

-- will skepticism of the efficacy of vaccinations be considered a crime against the state? Will the anti-vax'ers be considered public health terrorists?

-- will programs like Michelle's "Urban Health Initiative" circa 2008 become standard practice throughout all urban areas? Is that a good thing?

-- who in the urban community will counter the misinformation given by local community leaders about US healthcare practices?

If .... say ... a Muslim Cleric is speaking against our healthcare system and citing bad statistics and mis -information, will that be tolerated as "free speech" or that cleric be punished as public health menace?

-- Will collecting information about gun ownership, parental drinking and health habits, and other family information be part of a ObamaCare requirement for reimbursing pediatricians? They don't have to collect that data - but if they don't, they won't get paid.

-- Given the changing tides of healthcare "science" -

salt is always bad - recent studies suggest not so much

alcohol is a bad - moderate intake is good

body/mass index is accurate - now, not so much

... to what extent will ObamaCare punish people for "bad science" and/or repay them for actions taken off of bad information.

One of the nation's largest labor unions, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is promoting a plan that will centralize all retirement plans for American workers, including private 401(k) plans, under one new "retirement system" for the United States.

I feel really good about having put money away for myself because I knew SS was not to be trusted, only to be told it doesn't matter because SS2 will take it.

"A little–noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old."

"Social Security benefits are off–limits to creditors, such as credit–card companies and banks. But the U.S. can collect debts to federal agencies by "offsetting," or withholding Social Security and disability payments".

--a plan that will centralize all retirement plans for American workers, including private 401(k) plans, under one new "retirement system" for the United States.--

If these morons think they can do to us what the Kirchners are doing to Argentina and what Chavez did to Venezuela without a revolution they're going to have a rude awakening.
If Barry and the Dems are still in power come Jan 2013 I think the Republicans should just step out of the way and let the present generation of Dems and progs try and close the deal on what they and the previous generation started in the sixties.
The faster they go the less chance of the boiling frog syndrome and the sooner we can remove from the body politic those who would subsume the body politic to the state.

Imagine some poor chump owes $6,000 in regular Federal income taxes and a $750 penalty for non-compliance with the mandate. He mails in a return with a check for $6,000 marked as "Full payment for taxes owed/No penalty".

Can the Feds deem his payment to be $750 for the mandate penalty and $5,250 for his taxes, leaving him short (and subject to liens) on $750 for his taxes?

This is why tax revolts only work if they are total, not partial. If 20 million American's simply refused to pay any taxes in 2013, that might force the government to scrub the mandate. The Feds don't have the time, people, or enough courtrooms to force that many people to comply. Our tax system is based on voluntary compliance (as all the Dems' current cabinet members proves), using it to enforce law as unpopular as Obamacare, could completely wreck the system and now just how vulnerable it is.

Can the Feds deem his payment to be $750 for the mandate penalty and $5,250 for his taxes, leaving him short (and subject to liens) on $750 for his taxes?

Under the laws regarding commercial paper, the wording on the check would be conclusive if the payee cashed it--but, as I recall, only if there were a bona fide dispute about the $750 debt. God knows how it would turn out in this scenario, but imagine the IRS trying to administer and litigate it.

I think Porchlight's analysis as spot-on concerning what is going to happen initially. But as for what happens when the government decides to do something in response to the howls, I'm not at all sure the result is single-payer: it depends on who's running the government at the time. One response could be to scrap this entire system, which will still be in its infancy, and institute sensible, market-based reforms.

In short, when the Democrats' Dream System is shown to be a flustercuck, I don't think there's going to be a huge demand for more Democratic fixes.

Off topic. I registered at NPR's discussion forum after I saw some very nasty comments about Sarah Palin and her new show on Discovery. I specifically responded to a moron's assertion that Palin had said that she could see Russia from her residence. In careful, non-vulgar words, I explained that Palin had said, referring to Big and Little Diomede Islands, that part of Russia could be seen from part of Alaska, and that what was "quoted" was really a line from Tina Fey on SNL. I did indulge myself in a snide finish, saying that the previous poster would be well advised to do careful research before posting again. Now I discover that the NPR forum moderator has deleted my comment because it was not conducive to civil discussion. Meanwhile, slanderous and vicious posts by ignorant leftists are left for all to see. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

These people really do want to see blood in the streets. Taking 401(k) so they can rescue the unions' bankrupt pension plans will cause a revolution. Combine that with pushing Amnesty though in this economic evironment and you have a merger of working class and middle class against the elite like we haven't seen since TR was president.

Mel has the file on the 401(K) takeover talk. We've been talking about it here since last year when the House started having hearings on the idea. What started out as an idea from one whacky lady but now by the unions per the above. "Right...that could never happen here"...can no longer be dismissed with any certainty.

For those wanting to see the NPR forum I mentioned, just do a search there for Discovery Channel or Palin. I'm not sure how to do the LUN. Be sure to click on the button for all comments. There were fifty a moment ago. A fellow came on just after my post with a snide offer to change "Palin's" words to house instead of residence, completely missing the point that it was Tina Fey's words being misattributed to Palin.

Meanwhile, slanderous and vicious posts by ignorant leftists are left for all to see. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Posted by: mefolkes | March 25, 2010 at 10:50 AM

Repost the comment without the last remarks and see if they let it fly. If not, make a copy of examples of posts other made which were very negative, then e-mail NPR with the negative lefty comments and your two comments and ask if only people from the left are welcome in the NPR community, or are people from the left the only ones who can be nasty. Like Alinsky says, make them live up to their own standards.

Ranger, I'll be doing that very thing a bit later. I would recommend that others take a look at the forum. I sent Sarap2p, glasater and Clarice the page link if they care to properly post the link here. That isn't the first time I've run into biased moderators. Even at Discovery Channel, animal rightists were allowed to call participants in The Alaska Experiment and commenters who were hunters "murderers" and "environmental rapists", but our measured responses were often deleted.

No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

As I understand it, direct taxes are those imposed on an individual, as distinct from on an event (e.g., a sales tax or inheritance tax). The income tax is excepted by the Sixteenth Amendment. How does the "fine" for not buying insurance get around this Article?

Narciso, thanks a bunch. I've got a friend in Alaska who posted on Facebook that she was boycotting Discovery Channel because of "that crazy ho". I haven't a clue how a gal originally from good old Lubbock, Texas wound up that hateful toward unpretentious country girls. But my friend narrowly escaped death at the hands of her ex-husband and it is possible that he claimed to be a Republican. Nasty story, by the way. He beat her senseless, then put her into a modified king crab trap. When she hit the water, she revived and swam to shore. Fortunately he was an incompetent thug.

I think they need to make it a $750 tax increase, and then rebate for people who attach health insurance receitps, like you would for home repairs or such. I think that is what they are going to do later, in a couple years, when the dust dies down. It's the only consti way. But right now, they don't want to say the words "tax increase".

--How does the "fine" for not buying insurance get around this Article?--

Presumably they would argue that the "event" would be buying or not buying insurance.
It does seem a little odd that a person can be taxed for not doing something.
Why can't we tax people for not having any income or levy the firearms excise tax on those people who refuse to buy guns?

CH, yes, except that he couldn't afford an Oldsmobile and had to settle for a crab trap instead.

One of the posters at the NPR thread insisted that we were responsible for "a senator" being spat upon and another one called "a baby killer". The dunces don't even know the difference between a Representative and a Senator.

Dare I say that I am not terribly concerned about these reports of people acting out in response to the tyrannical actions of our government this past weekend? What did they expect? Apparently, the progs and the msm thought that the public would be too stunned to react to this dismantling of yet another industry and the subsequent intrusion of government into their lives.

Frankly, I would be more concerned if people didn't express themselves - overtly - as the government continues to encroach on our liberty. So far, people have been mild mannered and respectful in expressing their outrage, but as the country continues to collapse due to the deliberate actions of the administration and the progressives in congress, the tenor of that response is bound to change.

Obviously, these politicians don't read history. To be sure, they don't take our history seriously. If there can be anything good that has come out of all this, it will be the reawakening of Americans to what is precious in this country, why our founders fought so hard for it and took such great pains to create our Constitution, and why our ancestors put their lives on the line to preserve it. It's our turn now.

(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Service a commissioned Regular Corps and a Ready Reserve Corps for service in time of national emergency.

(2) REQUIREMENT.—All commissioned officers shall be citizens of the United States and shall be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws and compensated without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended.

Does this make it possible for a "national emergency" to turned into a "crony jobs" program with uncontrolled wages ?

Seems to me that if it is a tax at all, it has to be viewed as a capitation. Can't be an income tax, because it will be imposed on people who are not required to pay income tax or even to file a return. Article 1 Section 9 does not apply to the Massachusetts Legislature.

"Can't be an income tax, because it will be imposed on people who are not required to pay income tax or even to file a return."

Yes interesting point. How many people do not pay taxes at all? I think that if they go the tax increase route, they are planning on giving up tax dodgers. It would be hard to pin them down anyway. So that's why not everyone will be covered.

"The need for the additional agents arises out of the anticipated increase in delinquents,"

85% have insurance through employers. A small percentage pay no taxes and are pretty much beyond IRS and health insurance reach. And might already get Medicare. So it will only be a small proportion that the IRS will have to go after.

Now I discover that the NPR forum moderator has deleted my comment because it was not conducive to civil discussion. Meanwhile, slanderous and vicious posts by ignorant leftists are left for all to see. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Patrick, don't get me started. If I didn't have my Susan, I'd love to be in Ann Coulter's world, as close as was possible. She never looks lovelier than when the venom is dripping from her fangs. Absolutely magnificent.

Simon's letter is okay. He "unequivocally condemns" the threats of violence against Democrats. He doesn't speak about the lack of evidence for some of these claims. And he doesn't mention that the left is guilty of far worse even in recent days (bomb threats against Jim Bunning for example).
I like Roger, heck, I ended up at JOM via Roger's place > Flares. But it's kind of weak sauce on the whole, except for the part where he compares the Dems to totalitarians, which I liked.

"This week’s talking point is the sudden danger of new right-wing violence, and the inflammatory push-back against health care. I’m sorry, but all this concern is a day late and a dollar short. The subtext is really one of class — right-wing radio talk-show hosts, Glenn Beck idiots, and crass tea-party yokels are foaming at the mouth and dangerous to progressives. In contrast, write a book in which you muse about killing George Bush, and its Knopf imprint proves it is merely sophisticated literary speculation; do a docudrama about killing George Bush, and it will win a Toronto film prize for its artistic value rather than shock from the liberal community about over-the-top discourse."

...what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

It's entirely consonant with the malleable principles (or complete lack thereof) of the writer. The time for "playing nice" has passed and the creation of the Obama Thug Corps by this bill indicates that he's on the Castro/Chavez/Mugabe road.

I want to see the enrollment oath for the Obama Thug Corps. If it does not clearly include protection and defense of the Constitution then it would be very wise to seriously consider all means of resistance to the scum enrolled.

Back in '72, at the McGovern rally at the mall on the main campus of the University of Minnesota, Vin Weber and I and all the officers of the U of M College Republicans, and several general members, counter-picketed. All of us were assaulted by the "peace protestors" in one form or another. I was spat upon, punched and kicked. I would love to see the leftists produce absolute proof of these charges they're making about tea partier/Republican violence.

mefolkes -- the leftists will tell you that NO ONE spat on you. That no one spat on any returning Vietnam vets, either. You can produce affidavits to that effect, you can produce police reports, you could find the DNA of the spitter, heck YOU CAN FIND ADMISSIONS OF GUILT FROM THE PEOPLE WHO DID THE SPITTING.

The left does not operate on the basis of truth. They operate on the basis of Pravda -- what is useful to them is true, what is not is a lie.

Here are the percentages of the 2007 federal income tax paid by various percentiles of earners:

Top 1% 40%
Top 5% 60%
Top 10% 71%
Top 25% 82%
Top 50% 97%

And that was 2007--it has not got any less "progressive" since then.

One reason every tax cut is described as a "tax cut for the rich" is that if you want to leave more money in the private sector, there is no way to do it other than reducing taxes on "the rich." And of course the Bush tax cuts provided the most benefits for "the poor." Many people at the lowest end suddenly had no tax liability at all; those next up the ladder saw significant reductions.

Will the president react by picking his next fights more carefully, avoiding the sort of shady legislative dealings and us-vs.-them rhetoric that helped ram this bill through?

Or will the methods used to pass Obamacare, which many polls deemed unpopular leading up to this weekend’s vote, become the model formula for a new damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead progressive agenda?

Partly. He loses it at the end, when he advises leftists to say,“Please, let us avoid extremism and do not fall into the same trap as Baker, Chait, Keillor, Gore, Moore, or Range when they either expressed open hatred toward their president, or speculated about the assassination of their president, or compared their president to a fascist. We must disown such extremism, past and present."

I don't think it's necessarily "extremist" to express hatred of a President. I thought it was incorrect in the case of Bush because he wasn't doing much hateful (and even in the case of disastrous plans like amnesty I thought his heart was in the right place, his head was just up his ass), yet my feelings about Obama make Olbermann's feelings about Bush look like Paul's feelings about Christ.

As far as speculation about assassination, I think of Just War doctrine:
# the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
# all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
# there must be serious prospects of success;
# the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated

and I find that I am satisfied only that the first condition has been met. Furthermore I find it hard to imagine circumstances under which assassination would lead to a restoration of the Constitutional republic. I'm more sympathetic to the notion of violence in defense of self and property, but we're not even there yet.

Where he really loses me is the assertion that it's just as wrong to call Obama a fascist as it was to call Bush one. Obama's not a Nazi, true; I don't think he wants to send Republicans to death camps, and it's ironically difficult to imagine a Nazi who disliked Germans as much as Obama dislikes Americans. He is a totalitarian, though, and an enemy of liberty, and Bush just wasn't.

Speaking of "Sporting Goods", my local Gun Shop (Double Action) has been so busy for the past couple months they considered opening a larger store in a previous SAMS Club Location. Many people are spending their tax refunds on firearms and ammo.

"Health insurance is haraam like other types of commercial insurance, because it is based on ambiguity, gambling and riba (usury). This is what is stated in fatwas by the senior scholars. See the answer to question no. 39474 and 4210."

Yes, he hasn't said much about his maternal heritage, but it is Swedish on his paternal side. Norwegians and Swedes have traditionally had their disputes, but there are some Swedes I'm very pleased with and some Norwegians who disgust me.

How is the blessed event countdown? Keeping the blood pressure under control, even with all this political stress? I don't mind if you call me Mark in here. I'll refrain from using your name or nickname, Porchlight.

Let's see, I think it's about 2 weeks to due date. I'm not counting anymore - just hoping for as much extra time as possible to get things in order. Plus I enjoy this stage of the game. It's all good and I'll be glad to have a distraction from this health care mess after so many months of near-obsession. Thanks for asking! I look forward to updating y'all with the good news.